Digital Health

Thursday, February 08, 2018

If you spent any time in the Sands Convention Center—part of CES 2018’s Tech West exhibition—you couldn’t miss the explosion of companies offering sleep solutions this year. From startups to established companies like Philips and Nokia, everyone wants to capture a piece of this market. Form factors on display include smart mattresses, sensor strips that slip underneath sheets, smart pillows, smart sensors that clip on pillows, smart sensors that clip on clothes, bed-side ...read more

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

The medical device industry lives and breathes through innovation, and digital technology is accelerating these innovations. Despite being part of a heavily regulated industry, notable changes have taken place since the enactment of the ACA and amidst the overall shift of the healthcare industry to value-based care models.

Medical devices are used for three general purposes: treatment, diagnostics and monitoring. A value-based payment system is driving innovations in all three ...read more

Friday, November 11, 2016

For centuries, doctors have had a commanding role in healthcare delivery. The entry of the modern health insurance industry forced doctors to mind their service delivery costs and operate by the access rules created by health insurers through negotiated network contracts between insurers and doctors. The result of this system has been a neglect of consumers’ say and a limitation of their choices in their own health management, until now.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Parks Associates wrapped up the third-annual Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers in San Diego this week, hosting close to 300 executives and featuring more than 50 speakers, including keynotes from Annette Brüls, President, Diabetes Service and Solutions at Medtronic; Alex Hurd, Senior Director, Product Development, Growth and Payer Innovation – Health & Wellness at Walmart; Dr. David Rhew, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Healthcare and Fitness of Samsung ...read more

Thursday, August 18, 2016

The number of caregivers will greatly increase in the next five years as the baby boomer generation ages; over 115 million Americans will need caregiving assistance by 2020, either as care recipients or family caregivers. Currently, 8% of U.S. broadband households provide care to a family member and an additional 14% anticipate doing so by 2021.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Personal safety devices that track a user’s location and send alerts for emergency assistance stand as a unique opportunity for wearable technologies. Underlying health issues like stroke or conditions requiring multiple medications, the potential for injuries or falls during personal activities, or impaired cognitive capabilities such as Alzheimer’s can cause personal safety concerns.

The personal emergency response system (PERS) has a wearable component by default. PERS solutions ...read more

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Parks Associates consumer research reports 11% of U.S. broadband households with children have a smart watch, and 16% plan to buy one by mid-year 2016. Ten percent of Spanish broadband households own a smart watch, followed by 8% in the UK, 7% in Germany, and 6% in France.

The expansion of mobile device platforms to wearable form factors is creating many opportunities for developers to build services and applications for wearables in ...read more

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The disease management (DM) industry, which focuses on reducing or delaying the use of expensive treatments or costly procedures, has passed its prime time as a unique approach to controlling escalating costs attributed to chronic conditions. It worked on the “sickest of the sick.” But as patient conditions progressed and engagement levels decreased, it gradually lost its effectiveness. The industry hit a growth ceiling when health clients no longer found that cost savings justified the ...read more

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The smart home industry focuses on consumer use cases that charge a recurring monthly fee as the default revenue model for service providers. Equipment manufacturers usually earn revenues from product sales. Smart home platform providers can offer a technology license to their platform customers, or charge a monthly fee based on platform usage. Connected health solution providers can still leverage these revenue models when selling their solutions and services to enterprise ...read more

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

There is a large market opportunity for health services that cater to consumers’ healthy living needs. Overall, about half of Americans participate in at least one health or wellness service—one in four has a fitness club membership; one in seven is in a diet and nutrition program; and a similar percentage are participants of a weight loss program. Less popular programs include alcohol management, tobacco cessation and cognitive training courses. These programs may be funded by ...read more